True Story
Swindlers on the prowl
Alec Talukder, my good old neighbour, called on me one early morning last week. He made me swear that I would not disclose to anyone whatever he would tell me. Then he cupped his hands against his mouth and leaned precariously close to my ear to whisper some words that I could barely decipher.
"Did you say battery," I thought I had heard him whisper this word.
He whispered again, this time a little louder, "No, it's not battery but lottery--UK Coca Cola Lottery. My prize is worth five hundred thousand pound sterling. Do you know how much that is in our own currency?"
"Lots of money; it's more than six crores taka at the current rate of exchange." I couldn't hold back my surprise. "But when did you buy the ticket of Coca Cola lottery?"
It turned out that he did not buy any ticket but last evening had received this message through his email account.
"Your E-mail ID was selected for 500,000.00 GBP UK Coca Cola Lottery."
The unknown benefactor had asked Talukder to provide his address and other details to claim the money.
Noticing his disoriented look and the disheveled tuft of hair dancing across his thinning hairline, I conjectured, "You must have missed your sleep last night to make plans for using the money".
He confessed he indeed did, and added that he had a heated argument too with his wife over the use of the yet unseen money.
This story, bizarre as it may look, plays out in many homes and offices across the country and, indeed, the world over. Many of these characters approach me in the mistaken belief that my background qualifies me to answer their unanswered questions. Some come with a million dollar note issued against nothing but 'the goodwill' of the American people, a few come with billion dollar notes issued by 'Hell Bank' that they had found in the pocket of a second hand blazer bought from what is known as t'al market. When they finally leave, some speculate that I am too jealous about their newly found fortune to tell the truth; some decide to go to a real 'expert'.
There must be very few persons, with an address in the trade or telephone directory, who have not received a sugar coated letter from an unknown benefactor from Nigeria with an offer to send to your bank account, say, sixty million ill-gotten American dollars to hide it from the prying eyes of the Nigerian authorities. Your share is set at something like 10% of the booty, enough to keep you sleepless for a couple of nights.
If you thought that only our simpleton Talukders are hooked by these tricksters, you have not seen the last of human follies. The chief of the Indian Press Council, Justice Markandey Katju, recently caused a stir by saying that 90% of Indians are idiots. "You people don't have brains in your head….it is so easy to take you for a ride." Substitute the word Indians with any other nation; you would come pretty close to realities everywhere. Haven't we seen how three simple words 'Islam in danger' could stir a frenzy to kill people, burn houses and places of worship, torch vehicles and make the whole nation a hostage? Or this photo-shop swindler in Bogra, who sent a sample of Katju's 90 percent scurrying on the streets to destroy everything in sight simply by concocting the image, silhouetted against the lunar landscape, of a beast masquerading as a saint. But, let us continue our story.
When Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves had almost dried up in the early seventies, missives came from all corners of the world with offers to lend hundreds of millions dollars on very soft terms. The files on such offers were getting bulkier every day. Key men of the central bank and the government, mesmerised by these charming offers, held several rounds of discussions to 'materialize' a few offers only to discover some days later that the 'kind financiers' were not worth more than a few thousand dollars.
At about that time, a very shrewd businessman I knew was hooked by a Californian financier with an offer to lend twenty million dollars, again on soft terms, as venture capital to set up an industrial complex. He spent a year and about one hundred thousand taka on telex, fax and telephones. When I last met him he assured me, "Syed sahib, you will see, I'll succeed in collecting this money from them." No amount of reasoning could stop him from pursuing his dream until the end of his life, cut short by illness.
The advent of the internet has opened a whole new window of opportunity for swindlers. The inboxes of the targeted 'customers' are mercilessly cluttered by them. Irritating as these unwanted mails are, they, nonetheless, make fascinating reading. The last one in my inbox is from an Audit Manager, Mr. Axel Brice (fake, no doubt) from what he claims to be an international bank with an offer of $15.2m million. Where did he get this money? Here is an extract, without correction, from his mail:
"3 years ago, most of the African Politicians used our bank to launder money overseas through the help of their Political advisers, Base on the fact that fund been deposited in our bank was much for the Politicians to control, as they are transferring the fund to overseas, I was able to divert ($15.2M) to an escrow account that belong to unknown person. I will give you full details of this transaction as soon as you confirm your readiness to assist me transfer the fund into your account."
Here is an extract, without editing, from another fraudster:
"How are you doing? My guess is as good as yours' permit me to introduce myself, am Barrister Abdul Luckman Esq' from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Asia. It will be a reckoned day if this opportunity is granted for both of us to come together and reason what I have to share with you. It,s not a trade but an
important roll you play to get 35% of the total sum of $189 million dollars ."
This 'Barrister' must have dropped out of secondary school and is now trying his 'skill' to scoop a quick buck from unwary targets.
Another swindler did not explain the source of funds but straightaway credited my account (imaginary, I guess) against my invoice (imaginary, again).
"Please we are very sorry for the delays in making the payment, today we have remitted payment against your INVOICE. Find attached TT copy of payment of $140,000 USD made to your account, kindly confirm the BANK SLIP attached."
There is then this Audit Officer of a bank in Africa (Africa seems to have an endless supply of tricksters) who is sitting over fifteen million American dollars in the account of a gentleman who died in a plane crash. He drew out a plan to 'rob' that money from his bank with my assistance.
An eighty year old 'kind' widow from Britain, claiming that she had inherited twenty million pound sterling from her 'beloved' husband, sent a passionately worded email with a promise to give the money to me for charitable works in my country.
The streams of mails continue, and so do the colourful stories. Where these lures lead to is another story.
Does it make sense to write a silly piece with a touch of humour for a prestigious daily? It doesn't really, but our government is getting offers from known and not-so-known sources to finance the dream bridge across the Padma. And there are Talukders (with apologies to all those bearing this surname) who may be tempted to bite the tantalizing baits. To them my advice: it is not wise to lower your guard even when the carrots look fantastic.
Syed Ashraf Ali is former Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank
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